This topic has been in my mind for a while and I was wondering how similar some Arabic proverbs might be compared to other ones from other countries and cultures.

I will start by posting some of the most common ones .. and if any one thinks they have similar ones in their countries please post them ..

Manal

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* A bird in the hand is better than 10 on the tree ... 

* A drowning man will hang on to a straw ... 

* Not everything that shines is gold ... 

* Blood never turns into water ...

* When the cat is away the mice will play ... (I think I have heard that one a lot since I've move to the US ...

* Love is blind ...

* Necessity has it's own law ...

* a Dog's tail never stays streight ...

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Let's see a stich in time saves nine.

A bird in the hand is worth one in the bush or maybe's its two

Love is blind but marriage is a real  eye-opener
You always hurt the one you love
An engineer is always building bridges that aren't there
Do you want a medal or a chest to pin it on Love that.
Monkey see monkey do

Well there's a few
Glory

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Thanks for posting these proverbs some of them I never heard before .. It always surprises me to learn new proverbs and to see how similar they are in all languages ...

just like :

"Curiosity killed the cat" .. I think in French they have that same proverb as well ..

Today I was trying to explain an Arabic proverb to one of my co-workers and she was having trouble figuring out the meaning behind it .. so it was kind of funny .. anyway, here it is :

If your tongue got burnt sipping your soup, might as well blow in your yogurt .. 

I guess its more like trying to saying : Better be safe then sorry .. !! ??  no ..?? don't you think .. ??

That's what I was trying to explain to my co-workers in my plain english language .. but she did not make the connection between the yogurt (cold) and the soup (hot) ..

We have another one too that is said all the time when you trust a person to do something for you and wait for it to happen but it does not ..

We say :  I eat a big water melon and sat comfortably waiting for ... this or that .. to happen .. 

It probably does'nt make any sense in the English language .. but it just makes perfect sense in my language .. hi hi ..

Have a great end of the day .. !!

Manal 

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Enjoyed this thread that you started a great deal!

Hope your having a good month so far?
We miss your smiling face in Carolina Friends and 40-60+ friends group.
Stop in more often.
Glory

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Thanks for checking on me .. I guess I haven't been on care2 or may be even on the internet a lot lately .. I was sick and just sitting infront of the screen for an extra hour every day after coming back from work was too hard for me .. I was may be just checking my messages for not more than 5 minutes or so and then just going to bed .. I think I haven't replied to so many friends that I cannot keep track anymore .. I neede dto clear my head for a while and hopefully I will be back soon with new posts and hopefully will visit the California group and the 40-60+ group .. I actually posted once in the 40-60+ group a few days ago in the thread about colors .. I thought that was a great idea and a great topic .. you have such a lovely way of analysing people that's really cool ..

Anyway, I hope to read more of your posts soon either in my group or in your groups .. your such a great friend and a great host ..

Take care,

Manal

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Thanks for your thoughts and energy Glory .. it really means a lot to me .. I am doing much better already ..

Take care ..

Manal

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* He's colder than Ice  ... or  He's as cold as Ice ..

* A needle with Two threads will not stitch .. 

or in other words they also say :

* A boat or a Ship with two Captains is bound to sink ..

* A shattered minded person is always a liar ..

I hope my translation is making any sense ..

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Your translations make wonderful sense...as do the proverbs. Many of these are used in English or have some variation on it...as you already noted.

Please continue adding these. I love proverbs, folk tales and lore, children's stories, and wise tales. I also love myth and belief, ideas, and music. Actually, I love the arts and humanity of people and how they express their souls in various places. 

Thank you for your work.   I hope you're feeling better now.

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Thanks for your support .. I feel much much better now ..

I love proverbs too and that's why I get excited to hear of new ones that are almost similar to the ones from Egypt or the Arab world it makes you feel like the whole world is connected some how.. even some folk tales and myths are almost the same ..

May be I can start a thread about Egyptian tales too if I can find some that are easy to translate .. Great idea Daphne .. !!

Glad you enjoy the provebs thread .. !!

Take care,

Manal 

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I love these proverbs .. specially the one about being smart .. it is so true .. wish some people would realize that sometimes ..

Manal

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Good proverbs, enjoy them Manal and everyone

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This is a really interesting thread. These similar proverbs seem to point out that people the world over are really pretty much all alike. Isn’t it a shame that so many of us grow up thinking that our minor differences are more important than our similarities?

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Turn a bottle upsidown .. and you'll still have a daughter like her mom .. !! or in other words .. Like mother like daughter .. !!

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I just thought of another proverb that we say very often in Egypt .. it just came into my head as it struck me very hard at work last week .. it was just a really funny situation but it really reminded me of that proverb .. sorry everybody nothing personal ..

* Keep Teaching a stupid person and he's always wake up the next morning not remembering anything that you thought him ..   

Is there any similar proverbs like that one in the english language or in any other culture .. ??

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I think it is about time to get this "expressions" section "hopping" again.    As I was reading some of your entires, Manal, I thought of this expression in English:  "A stitch in time saves nine."  

Tell me if you don't understand any of the expressions.  I will be happy to explain.  Below are expressions from my Tennessee relativres... 

Keep skunks and lawyers at a distance.

Words the soak into your ears are whispered, not yelled.

Don't sell your mule to buy a plow.

One log won't burn.

She fell out of an ugly tree and hit every branch on the way down.

Well, butter my butt and call me a biscuit.

My cow died last night so I don't need your bull.

She's so stuck up, she'd drown in a rain storm.

If you can't lift the cow, cut the fence.

Her jeans were so tight that if she'd farted, it would've blew off her boots.

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one of my friends just asked me to explain to her this arabic proverb.

Well, if I re-write it in English it may not make much sense .. but I guess I will have to .. just so I can write the explanation ..

the proverb in Arabic goes like this: " A bird can fly as high as he can, but he can also fall from where he had reashed as fast as he had flown. " 

I don't know if it makes any sense .. but to me I think it resembles the english proverb that says: " look before your leap."

Any ideas ... ?? anyone .. ??

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